Fresno State Impacted | ABC30 Fresno | abc30.com

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By ABC30

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Fresno, CA It's going to be tougher for Valley High School Students to get into Fresno State. The university announced Monday it already has more applications than spaces for freshmen next fall.

As Action News Anchor Liz Harrison reports, state budget cuts may end up cutting some valley students out of a four year degree.

For many Valley High School Students who can't decide where to go to college, Fresno State has long been the "safe" option. But state budget cuts have forced the university to slash its freshman enrollment. It will also be cutting off applications after November 30th, no exceptions

Fresno State Associate Vice President Bernie Vinovrski said local students, from Fresno, Madera, Tulare and Kings County will get first priority. Students outside the local area may not get in.

Bernie Vinovrski, Fresno State Admissions said: "We will be ranking them by their GPA, their SAT's, the Eligibility index and so not all eligible students will be admitted, only a percentage of them will be admitted. That's what it really means to be impacted."

The application admission period began October first; Fresno state had 1100 applications on that first day. Last year they had just 200.

High school students need to be more organized about applying for college this year, and high school counselors have to change their college preparation strategies

Pat Gilbert, Clovis West Counselor said: "Apply anywhere and everywhere and keep your options open, I've never had to say that before, throw it all out there and see what shakes down. "

Clovis West High School Counselor Pat Gilbert is telling her students to apply out of state and at private universities.

Pat Gilbert, Clovis West Counselor said: "Go ahead and apply. There are lots of financial aid opportunities out there .There's state and federal monies out there still available for college. And once they get those acceptance letters then they can work with the institutions and work on those financial aid packages for them."

For those students who don't want to leave the Valley, they can always take general education classes at a Community College and transfer to Fresno State. The university is not impacted at the upper division level.